The Crimson League (The Herezoth Trilogy) (34 page)

“That she has,” said Kora. Her heart suddenly felt lighter.

“So I went along with it.”

“It was the right thing to do, Zac.”

Zacry scowled. “It seemed like it, yeah. Why are you smiling like that?”

“I don’t know. I’m proud of you going to that place for Mother. I’ve missed you and your scrapes, missed you like you wouldn’t believe. I had a hellish day, and it’s just so good to hear your voice.” She embraced her brother. Zacry pushed her away, but he grinned.

“It’s good to see you too. You look a wreck!”

Kora wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Me? When’s the last time you looked in a mirror?”

“Two weeks.”

Just like that, the tranquility of the moment evaporated. “Two weeks? Zacry! Where have you been? What happened at the orphanage?”

“Nothing happened. Well, no, a few things happened. The food made me sick about twice a week. I made friends with one girl who I thought had a cold when I met her, she coughed a lot. Janiper.”

“That’s pretty,” said Kora. “How old is she?”

Zacry hesitated, then said, “Thirteen. You would have liked her.”

“Would have?”

“She was the mother hen of the little kids. Played with them. Hugged them when they scraped a knee. Tucked their blankets in when they took their nap, things like that. They loved her, they called her Hanny. But she got real sick. Her breathing turned raspy. She said her lungs were full of fluid or mucus or something, she’d been that way as long as she could remember. A priest came and we all prayed to the Giver when she died, and everyone was quiet for a couple days, except the toddlers. They kept crying for her to play with them. Me and another kid tried to keep them calm. Yeah, it’ll be a long time before I forget Janiper. I think she’s happier now, but she was the only good thing about that place. It smelled funny. The food made me sick.”

“You mentioned that,” said Kora. She put a hand on Zacry’s shoulder; he promptly shrugged it off.

“A woman they called a teacher came for a couple hours a day, but she was an idiot. Half her sums were always wrong. Mrs. Woodson….”

“Is that the teacher?”

“The director of the orphanage. She said she’d find me an apprenticeship, but she didn’t. I spent weeks babysitting the infants and getting punished for not eating enough. I ate what I could stomach, and then they’d make me kneel on uncooked rice, or whip me, or give me extra chores. I wasn’t the only one either. After two months I called it quits. I swore to Sedder I wouldn’t worry Mother, but I figured she wouldn’t know I left, so it’s not like she’d panic about it, she’d think I was still there. Kora, how come you’re not spitting mad?”

Kora blinked heavily. “At you? Why would I be mad at you? The way you describe this place, I’d have run away myself. Zacry, I’m just glad you’re all right. How’d you slip off?”

“My first idea was to lose the group when they took us to the park. We’d go every Wednesday. I thought I’d try it, I really did, until the next time we went out. Mrs. Woodson kept her eye on us, so I wouldn’t get too far if I got away at all. I waited instead.

“That night I didn’t sleep too good. I usually didn’t, ‘cause they’d cram us all together in a huge hall, and the babies were always waking us up, or someone would cough, or…. That night was actually pretty quiet. I was trying to figure a way out of there, and I heard the woman who watched our bedroom door sneak off around two in the morning, when someone hurled pebbles at the window the next room over. Well, I guess they were pebbles. That’s what it sounded like.”

“Was that when you escaped?”

“That night? Are you kidding? I had no idea where she was going. How long she’d be. I know you think I’m brash, but I’m not dumb. She was gone half an hour, maybe forty minutes. The next night I listened to see if she would leave again.

“She didn’t. I was in a bad mood the day after that, I thought I got my hopes up for nothing. And I was tired. I fell asleep during lessons, so they made me scrub the kitchen.
That
was their mistake. The cook hadn’t come in yet, you see, which meant I could do some snooping. The windows had locks, but they were old, most of them were rusty. I found some shears I was sure could break one lock in particular, it was corroded pretty good. Mrs. Woodson yelled at me for taking so long, but she didn’t have a clue what I’d actually been doing. Not a clue.

“That night I was trying to sleep when those pings came from the room next door again. I could barely hear them, but they were there, and then the watchwoman slipped off, right on cue. Her guy was back.”

“So it
was
a guy throwing stones.”

“I’m pretty sure. She left, just like the last time, and I waited a couple minutes. It was easy to sneak to the kitchen. I knew my way around by then, even in the dark. I hugged the walls and counted doors, ‘cause I couldn’t see a thing, not in the hall. The kitchen had some moonlight coming in. It took ten minutes, but I broke the lock and got out of that dump. I had the clothes and the money I came in with, which isn’t saying much, but it was better than nothing. I took the shears too. I thought if I got in trouble they might come in handy.”

“Wait a minute,” said Kora. “This Mrs. Woodson let you keep your money?”

“She didn’t know I had it.”

“She didn’t go through your things when you first showed up?”

“I didn’t have any things. She made me empty my pockets. She didn’t think to check my shoes.”

Kora smiled at her brother. “That was brilliant.”

“I had enough money to feed myself four or five days. I knew the city from delivering the
Letter
all around, but I’d never been out at night. I figured I should get as far from the orphanage as I could. Not that they’d notify the guards or anything, but….”

Kora nodded. “They wouldn’t have. They’re supposed to watch their children. There would have been fines, at the least, maybe a hearing.” Zacry’s story left her flabbergasted, but proud. She had never dreamed he could be so rational for his impulsiveness. Ranler couldn’t have done it better, she thought, beaming at her mud-stained brother. “What’d you do next?” she asked.

“Dawn was still a few hours off, so I went toward the plaza, clear ‘cross town. I passed some shabby looking buildings, let me tell you, but the only people I met were drunks. Some were so far gone I had to be a blob to them. One did yell to get on home and cursed my parents, but he wasn’t threatening. When the sun rose I was five blocks from the square. I wanted to make myself scarce that day, so I went in the first bakery I saw and bought a baguette and apple tart. Best meal I ever had. There was space beneath the building for me to lie comfortably, out of sight, so I slept there and planned my next move. That night I went to the swimming hole.”

“I haven’t been there,” said Kora.

“It’s a section of the Podra they dammed off to make a lake. I washed and drank and then walked around hoping to find some food. A vegetable garden had carrots and cucumbers. I bought more bread in the morning and went to the plaza, where a merchant sold me ten bowls cheap to go around the city and hawk them. Well, not hawk, they were black market, but you get the idea.” Kora nodded. “I made enough to feed myself an extra couple days. That was pretty much how I lived for a week. It wasn’t bad. If Mrs. Woodson sent people looking, they never found me. I’m not sure she did, though. Everything was fine until they made curfew earlier six days ago. Then the soldiers started paying attention to who was out after hours. I don’t know how, but those same men saw me four different nights. I went to different places….”

“You didn’t go far enough,” said Kora. “The guards’ beats don’t rotate, we found that out. Listen, I don’t want you anywhere near that park again.”

“I don’t plan to go back.” Zacry leaned forward, a sudden burst of energy shining in his eyes. “So, what have you been up to?”

“It’s late, you should wash up. I’ll see what we have to eat. We can talk more tomorrow.”

Zacry grumbled all the way, but he went to the washroom. Kora found some nuts, apples, cabbage, honey, and uncooked rice tucked away. She stoked the fire and had just set water to boil when Laskenay arrived. The newcomer jumped to find someone home, but kept her calm.

“Where are the others?”

“On their way. We got interrupted, but no one’s hurt.”

“And the food you pulled out?”

“Laskenay, my brother’s here. He literally ran into Neslan—well, almost. He’ll want to help, but he’s twelve and I refuse….”

“No child will be risking his life,” Laskenay assured her. She lowered herself to Zacry’s empty chair. “Don’t fret about your brother. Menikas should know a place he’ll be secure, and if he doesn’t, I’ll find one.”

“I know we’ll find something for him. Eventually. The thing is, I have to tell him….” The elder sorceress waited, her eyes on Kora, her equanimity almost palpable. It helped Kora find words. “Sorcery runs in families, doesn’t it?”

“Your case is unique.”

“It’s not. I come from Mayven’s line.”

Laskenay did not react to the revelation. She told Kora, “That doesn’t mean your brother’s necessarily empowered.”

“He’s twelve years old,” said Kora. “He’s reckless. He won’t know how to use spells, how to control them. He’ll think he’s invincible.”

“So show him he isn’t. Teach him his limits. If he does share your talents, it’s not your place to smother them. But Kora, you might misjudge him. It’s hard to admit, always, those we want to protect have matured and don’t need us as in the past. The boy’s young, but a far cry from an infant. He’s had your example before him his whole life, hasn’t he?”

“You’re right. You’re right, he deserves more credit,” said Kora. She thought of Zacry’s flight from the orphanage, how he had planned it to the letter, been prudent and patient. Still, magic was something different.

Laskenay glanced at the fire. “Your water’s boiling.”

445

CHAPTER FOUR

Of Weddings

The morning was warm, the straw pile outside the Palace stables wet with dew as Alten Grombach watched two servants hoist the last of his travel cases on a horse-drawn cart that creaked in protest. Four lady’s bags and the rest of Alten’s luggage already weighed it down. A head framed in white appeared in the window of a coach some feet away.

“Are you quite finished?” asked Malzin.

Damn her.

“It’s not my fault those imbeciles cracked my best case. If you wish to go ahead, Captain, you can manage without my company.”

Malzin chuckled. “Of course I can. But Zalski named you my escort.”

“One of the, ah, perquisites of having earned his trust.”

“He trusts your power, should we need it for defense
. Don’
t let your head inflate, General
. I
t won’t fit inside the coach.”

“Don’t worry about that. T
here’s plenty of space where your woman’s heart should be.”

Malzin sighed. “Enough of this,” she said. “We’re stuck together for two days. We might as well be civil and make them tolerable.”

Alten gave a grandiose bow and turned to the men now securing the cart’s cargo with ropes. “We’re on a schedule!”

A tap sounded on the window, making Kora start. She stopped pacing the main room of Menikas’s apartment
.
Craning her neck, almost sliding on a stack of maps, she discovered the source of her fright: a cardinal, perched on the sill and looking stunned. She shooed the bird away before it flew into the pane again, while Alten climbed in the coach.

The general struck up conversation with his travel companion. “You’re going to Yangerton to….”

“To take over the search for the
Librette.
My men have proven stunningly incompetent.”

“Their captain’s presence will give them focus.”

“That’s the idea.”

“Why else are you going?”

Malzin crossed her legs, sizing up Alten. “Surely the spellbook’s cause enough?”

“You’d travel for the book, but you’d be griping. At the very least you’d have suggested some alternative, one to keep you in Podrar. You did nothing of the sort.”

“Since you mention it,” said Malzin, “I hope to acquire a specific piece of jewelry. It’s one of a kind. Unique. And I don’t mind telling you, trinkets aside, the idea of returning to Yangerton has its appeal.”

“You spent summers there as a child, if I’m not mistaken.”

Malzin raised her eyebrows. “When you do research…. Yes, I spent summers there, at my grandmother’s mansion. I always loved the city. I found its people just eccentric enough to hold my interest. I loathed the old woman.”

“Did her servants treat you poorly? The cook dry out your meals?”

“I thought we agreed to be amicable.”

“My apologies.”

“I was actually quite fond of Windy: the cook. She saved me extra berries and took me to the park on her days off. But Nans bored me to tears. She was always droning on about dukes ten years dead. Worse, she’d barge in to offer tea when Valkin visited and end up serving her life story.”

“How dreadful,” said Alten. He turned to the window and rolled his eyes.
Patience
.
You need to last two days with her. Two days!
The coach began to move down a dirt drive.

“Valkin,” he said. “Where have I heard that name?”

“Zalski’s brother-in-law.”

“Ah, yes.” Alten smiled. “You two were close? Don’t tell me he chose Laskenay over you?”

“Of course he didn’t. Valkin was my first love, and I his. You recall what it is to be fourteen: I idolized the boy. I idolized him and grew disenchanted long before he fell to Zalski’s sister, years before. If I’d wanted him I’d have had him, make no mistake.”

“Oh, you wanted him,” Kora muttered, pulling off her chain.

“What was that?”

Laskenay had just brought Zacry over.

“Alten’s on his way. Malzin’s with him. She’s going to head the search for….” Kora remembered her brother. “She’s going to head the search herself.”

Laskenay stiffened. “Is she now?”

“It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“I was hoping later.”

Zacry looked around. He bent to examine the maps Kora nearly had knocked out of place. “What are we doing here?” he asked.

Kora said, “I need to explain some things. Why don’t we sit?” Zacry took Menikas’s usual place around the table. Kora and Laskenay pulled out chairs. “You asked last night what I’d been up to.”

Zacry leaned forward. “You mean you’re gonna tell me?”

“Parts of it. I went to Podrar. I went to Fontferry. I actually spent some time at Wheatfield.”

“Mom’s Wheatfield? Really? Was Grandmother’s table there?”

“The table was filthy, and beautiful, absolutely beautiful, I wish you could see it…. Zac, listen, I discovered some things in Fontferry. About our family history. You know the story Father used to tell about the sorcerers? The revolt? It turns out Mayven wasn’t a casualty. She had a daughter after.”

“You mean we’re from Mayven’s line?”

“We are.”

“And that, that’s why you’re a sorceress?”

“It explains it, don’t you think?”

“And you,” he looked at Laskenay, “You must be a sorceress as well?”

Laskenay nodded. Zacry slammed the table. “And I have no magic. How is that fair?”

“Zac, you do have magic. At least, there’s a chance you do.”

“I’d have the mark. I’d have the stupid mark.”

“Mayven erased the mark from those who share her blood.”

Zacry’s mouth fell open. Then he shut it. He asked, “Are you sure she did that?”

“I’m positive,” said Kora.

“Then I really could be….”

“I’m a sorceress. You’re my brother. I’d guess it’s pretty likely.”

“How do we find out?”

“
Mudar,
” said Laskenay, waving her arm, and a tome soared from the shelf into her arms. Zacry sat in shock as she flipped through the pages, then set the book before him. “This incantation will stop someone cold,” she said. “It suspends their breathing, their brain activity, all muscle contraction. They become a kind of statue. If you’re a sorcerer, you should be able to cast it on your sister, at least in part.”

Zacry looked horrified. “On my sister!?”

Kora had never felt the power of that spell, and had no wish to, but Laskenay caught her eye and she understood:
Estatua
was the kind of magic that would frighten Zacry into prudence, especially when he saw what it did to someone he cared about. Kora sighed. “He can cast it on me,” she said. “When you’re ready, Zac.”

Zacry mumbled, “I don’t…. I mean this isn’t, it doesn’t sound like….”

“I’ve cast the spell multiple times,” said Laskenay. “I can reverse it. Kora won’t be harmed. You want to know if you’re a sorcerer, don’t you? This is how you find out.”

Zacry turned to his sister. “Are you sure this isn’t dangerous?”

Kora said the spell was not, and Zacry shut his eyes. Laskenay said, “You don’t want to do that. It’s inefficient and it’s craven. If you’re willing to curse a person, you need to look at her while you do it.” Zacry stared at his sister, close to trembling. She nodded him encouragement, and he spoke the incantation.

The next thing Kora knew, her overturned chair lay on top of her. She had no memory of falling. Her wrist was bent painfully, and she grabbed at it. Laskenay sat with arms folded on the table, but Zacry had jumped up, despite the fact his knees looked ready to buckle. He pulled Kora’s chair away.

“I’m just fine,” she assured him. Her brother gave her a hand and dropped back in his seat, without words for what had to be the first time in his young life.

“That was impressive,” said Laskenay. Impressive was an understatement.

“How did he do that flawlessly? The first time? His first spell ever? It took me ages!”

“Zacry’s magic does seem stronger,” admitted Laskenay. “Still, I don’t think you realize how strong your magic actually was for a novice. The force behind your spells is incredible, both of you.”

“But how?” insisted Kora. “Magic’s been dormant in our line for hundreds of years. That should make it deteriorate, not strengthen.”

“Didn’t you mention a spell Mayven wrote, to eliminate the mark? Maybe the incantation did more than she intended. Maybe it preserved her magic through the generations. That’s pure conjecture, but it’s the only explanation I can offer.”

“It makes sense,” said Kora. “Zac, are you all right?” Zacry was staring blankly at the wall. “Zac?”

“Do you have any idea what I just did to you?”

“I’ve seen it before. Listen, you didn’t hurt me, I swear. I’m good as new.”

“You toppled over!”

Laskenay said, “Increased weight’s a effect of that spell. She wasn’t seated squarely, that was all. It had nothing to do with you. Magic can have unfores
een results, for many reasons. T
hat’s something to keep in mind.”

“Right. So what, what happens now?”

Kora said, “Now I’m going to take a few days to teach you some spells. I want you to be able to defend yourself.”

“After that, can I join the League?”

Kora’s lips pulled tight. “No way.”

“But I’d be useful! Another sorcerer, don’t pretend I wouldn’t be.”

Laskenay said, “It’s out of the question. Zacry, I appreciate your offer. You have pluck, and a fighter’s spirit to boot, but you’re nowhere near coming of age.”

“Mother sent you to the orphanage to keep you safe. Safe, you told me that yourself. Imagine what she’d do to me if I let you run around with the Crimson League!”

“You’re gonna hole me up in a safehouse again, aren’t you?”

Kora’s heart skipped as she remembered all the X’s on Lanokas’s map of the city. “I don’t want him in a safehouse,” she told Laskenay.

“Nor do I.” Laskenay sighed. “They aren’t as safe as they were.”

“So what’ll I do? I don’t guess you’ll let me stay here?”

Laskenay said, “I’ll find a place we’re all comfortable with, and I promise that in ‘we’ I’m including you. In the meantime, your sister’s right. You should learn some magic.
Defensive
magic. Kora….”

“I’ll round up a volunteer.
Trasporte.
”

The rest of the League was eating breakfast; Hayden had bought muffins to celebrate the latest raid’s success. Everyone was so used to Kora’s popping in and out of the apartment by now they mostly ignored it. Only Bennie, who happened to be gazing at the wall where Kora materialized, bobbled her half-eaten pastry.

“Geez, Kora!”

“I’m sorry. Where’s Kansten?”

“Yo!” Kansten was sitting on the floor with Ranler on the other side of the room. “You got news for me?”

“You wouldn’t believe the half of it. You remember the kid we picked up last night?”

Ranler scanned the room for Zacry. “Where’d he go?”

“With Laskenay. He’s not just any kid, he’s my brother.”

Kansten spit out a bite of muffin. “Your
brother
?”

“Yeah. That was Zacry. It turns out magic runs in the family. I want to teach him some spells, so he can protect himself. Since you were kind enough to, to uh….”

“To be your punching bag,” said Kansten.

“Yeah, that, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me train Zac. I don’t want to ask Laskenay, she has too much on her mind already.”

“I’d love to, let me tell you. The thing is, Ranler and I convinced Menikas to give us a couple days off.”

“Seriously? Menikas?”

Kansten said, “Cross my heart. He’s not happy about it, but I told him if I didn’t get a break I’d make his life a living hell. I can be good at that.”

“Fair enough,” said Kora. Kansten was almost beaming.

“Two days. No raids. No guards. Just the public gardens and a swordplay tournament if we can sneak our way in.”

Kora blinked. “Are you two together?”

“Don’t tell the others. They’ll guess eventually, but yeah, for two weeks now.”

“Wow,” said Kora. “I didn’t know. Obviously I didn’t know, you hadn’t told me…. Well, congratulations. You deserve some time to breathe, both of you.”

“Hey Bidd!” Kansten yelled, her smile turning devilish. “Get over here!”

Bidd scowled and left Hal to watch his muffin. “What do you want?”

“What’s with the attitude?” said Kansten. “You want to be more active, right? Contribute to the League?”